Stop & Shop Reinstates Pandemic Pay for Workers

From the beginning of March through July, Stop & Shop's supermarket workers received hazard pay because their jobs made them susceptible to COVID-19. The worker's paychecks increased by 10 percent until it came to an end in July.

According to an article in the Hartford Courant, Stop & Shop ended the pandemic pay saying store traffic had returned to pre-coronavirus levels. The union that represents 70,000 supermarket workers was livid. The following quote about supermarket workers comes from the leaders of 14 locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers saying,

The COVID-19 pandemic continues and our members also continue to practice regimented disinfection protocols just to go to work every day and ensure their families are safe when they return.

The new agreement from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union provide retroactive premium pay to Stop & Shop grocery workers as a lump sum equal to 10 percent of hours worked between July 5 and August 22.

I patronize the New Fairfield Stop & Shop regularly and have nothing but good things to say about every department manager in 'my' store. Since the mandatory mask-rule was put into effect, I have only seen one so-called 'tough guy' defiantly wander into the store without a mask. Kudos to all of the Stop & Shop employees in New Fairfield! Stop & Shop President, Gordon Reid, told the Hartford Courant,

Our workers have gone above and beyond to ensure that our stores have remained open to serve our communities' essential needs.